This book annoyed the hell out of me. This is another book that doesn’t really describe anything in any objective sense. Rather, it’s a…"meditation” on something. It comes off feeling indulgent and narcissistic.
The writer jumps around. He talks about how he tried to master drawing, then he goes into magicians quite a bit, and then there’s a bizarre chapter on baking bread with his mother.
None of this is combined into any type of thematic whole. It seemed to just be a random collection of essays that could, in some sense, be considered to be about the same subject.
It’s Portuguese for “act of faith.” In most cases, it refers to a series of events during the Inquisitions of the 1500s through the 1800s. These were public punishments and executions of those believed to be heathens or witches. Prisoners were whipped, hanged, or burned at the stake in front of...
“ur-” is German for “original” or “primitive.” The urtext is the original document, without any changes. It’s often used to discuss printed music, as these tend to change over time to accommodate new notation or musical styles.
Absolutely brilliant book that anyone in their 20s or who is just starting out their career should read. It lays waste to the idea that we need to “pursue our passion,” and instead promotes the idea that we need to ravenously acquire skill and either (1) find passion through the expression of that...
I struggled with this book. I didn’t finish it, but I tried. I even tried to go back and read it in pieces. In fact, I kept it on my reading table for a week, picking it up over and over and try and make some sense of it. (The date on this review is simply the date when I gave up…) Here’s a problem...
Lovely coffee table picture book of independent bookstores from around the world. The writer/photographer spent a lot of time in several major cities – San Francisco, NYC, London, Paris, Vienna, and some smaller cities in Germany, Portugal and The Netherlands. Each bookstore gets a small essay from...
